


lying isn't the most fun

by joshriku



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff and Crack, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:21:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26825056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joshriku/pseuds/joshriku
Summary: A little status ailment makes Joshua say the truth for a day. Riku is the last person who'd take advantage of that.
Relationships: Kiryu "Joshua" Yoshiya/Riku (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 13





	lying isn't the most fun

“That’s the last one of them, I think,” Riku sits down on the floor, out of breath.

It’s been a while since a swarm of Heartless had behaved so annoyingly. They weren’t just Heartless, though, they mixed with  _ Noise,  _ and sheesh—talk about working up a sweat. He looks around the Room of Reckoning, all of his friends tired but smiling, and sighs relieved. Everyone is in one piece. 

Joshua approaches him, sitting down on the floor as well. Riku turns to smile at him. “You good?”

Joshua nods. “I’m fine. Could you extend your arms, please?”

Oh, so he had seen that. Riku winces as he extends his arms; there are some fresh wounds there. One of the Noise-like creatures Riku had fought had extremely sharp claws, so it is no wonder his arms had ended up a little screwed. It’s fine. Nothing Curaga couldn’t get rid of.

“Did you know that the Noise you fought was a Taboo one?” Joshua says, examining his wounds. Riku has a feeling he might be pissed. “Taboo Noise are already hellish on their own. With the Heartless backing it up, its power only grew bigger. And yet you took it without even spending a second to heal yourself. Who knows what type of infection you might have?”

Now, Riku knows when Joshua is worried over him. He’s not a stranger to it, to him caring about Riku in his own ways and healing him as they talk. It’s not usually like  _ this,  _ though. In most cases, Joshua has a smirk tugging at his lips when he comes to aid Riku—he makes a comment, teasing, lighting up the atmosphere before worrying. Joshua is worried, and it’s  _ obvious.  _ Something is wrong.

“Are you okay?” Riku asks him as Joshua holds his arm. The warmth of the Composer’s light quickly heals his arm. “You seem… off.”

“No, of course I’m not okay. I’m worried.”

Riku’s eyes widened at the same time as Joshua’s. Joshua drops his arm, seemingly at a loss of words.

“Riku,” Joshua begins. “Something  _ is  _ off.”

“Yeah, I can see that!” Riku squints at Joshua, trying to see if anything catches his attention—any hint of something that could look off about him. “You’re being too honest.”

“I’m aware.”

Riku tries again. “What did you have for breakfast today?”

“I didn’t have breakfast,” Joshua answers immediately. “Riku,” he repeats, urgent, like Riku has any idea of what to do. 

“Okay,” Riku replies. He absentmindedly registers that his arm is healed, despite their current freak-out regarding Joshua’s honesty. “Is it a status effect? Did you fight any Noise?”

“Many of them. I can’t say how many exactly, as I have no clue, but…” Joshua frowns. “I would not rule out the possibility of it being a status effect.”

He hears his friends shuffling around until they’re all surrounding Riku and Joshua. Neku is the first one to sense that the situation isn’t quite right. Maybe because it’s written on Joshua’s face—which in itself is extremely weird. Riku knows by experience that Joshua is  _ not  _ easy to read. 

“He’s being too honest,” Riku explains. In hindsight, it’s funny. Joshua being honest shouldn’t be such a big deal. It  _ is,  _ though. “Ask him anything.”

“Remember last week, when we went to eat and my nuggets disappeared mysteriously?” Neku asks. “Did you steal them?”

“Yes. I always steal them because you are incredibly clueless to your surroundings.” Joshua winces.  _ “Riku.  _ Do something!”

“I don’t know what to do!” Riku exclaims back. “Anyone’s got some Panacea?”

Lea hands him one, and Joshua hurries to drink it. It must be so uncomfortable, for someone like him to suddenly be spilling all the truths he has. 

“Okay,” Riku says after a second. “Joshua. Let’s try again. Did you have breakfast today?”

“No, and I never do, unless you make me have it,” Joshua answers, straight-forward and  _ honest.  _ If Joshua had been a different person, he probably would’ve put a hand over his mouth to stop talking. Instead, Joshua frowns, shutting up.

“Oh, gosh,” Shiki comments. “This is the weirdest thing in the world.”

Yeah, this would not end well.

“Maybe Mr. H knows something,” Joshua looks at him, and Riku decides to act. This would not end well. “Let’s get going. Please.”

Joshua using  _ please  _ is terrifying. After a few talks, everyone splits up, because after asking Joshua if they could join him, he answered, “I’d like it if it was just Riku, thanks,” and the argument died there.

Riku’s pretty tired. In fact, he’d rather go take a nap right now. His body is very sore, but his priority is currently Joshua—the fact he felt most comfortable with Riku in this state spoke for itself. He still makes his way to WildKat. Mr. H must’ve returned by now, and since most of Shibuya isn’t about to be lost to darkness anymore, he should be free again.

Mr. H has a hard time believing Joshua’s little problem at first. 

“Well, ask him anything,” Riku says. “I think it works mostly for questions.”

Mr. H scratches his chin. “Huh. Josh, is it true you don’t like my art?”

“No it isn’t,” Joshua replies. “Of course I like it. It’s good and it’s passionate. How could I not?”

A beat of silence passes. Mr. H whistles. “Damn, kid. Follow me to the back for a while, Josh?”

Riku could fall asleep on the counter if he tried hard enough. Still, his worry over Joshua is stronger than his own tiredness. It’s clear he’s not comfortable right now—and who would be, really? Riku knows that if he was in Joshua’s position, he’d probably avoid his own friends. You never know what you’re going to say. Joshua’s got his reasons to keep things to himself, and really, forcing it out of someone like this is terrible.

Riku decides he’s going to avoid making any compromising questions.

A while passes until Mr. H returns with Joshua. “I think we’ve got it figured out.”

“Really? Are you okay?”

“Yes,” Joshua answers. “Mr. H helped with a tentative antidote. It should fade away in the next twenty-four hours.”

“Please don’t go running your mouth off,” Mr. H sighs. “Avoid any situations where you may compromise yourself. Can you stick with Riku?”

“Well, I wouldn’t want to force him to stick around with me,” Joshua says. “I’m sure he’s tired and would rather do something else.”

“I’m free,” Riku assures Mr. H. “I got it from here. Thank you.”

He tugs at Joshua to follow him, waving their goodbyes, until they’re out of the café. 

“What do you want for dinner?” Riku asks. “Or, well, lunch. I’m starving.”

“Anything is okay.” Joshua cocks his head. “Aren’t you tired?”

“I can sleep at your house, right? I’ll be fine.”

Joshua eyes him suspiciously.

Riku stares back. “What?”

“Aren’t you curious about things?” Joshua asks. “You could ask anything and I’d tell you the absolute truth. Shouldn’t you be asking me a million questions?”

“Hey, you’re right. What am I doing?” Riku stops walking. Joshua does, as well. “Joshua. Am I a good cook?”

“Yes,” Joshua answers, almost automatic, but he’s still frowning; he’s probably waiting for a deeper question. “Even the dishes I don’t usually like are fine if you make them.”

Riku grins. “That’s a great ego booster. Thank you.”

“I mean deeper questions,” Joshua elaborates when they resume walking. “You can ask anything.”

“I don’t want to,” Riku says. “I’m not taking advantage of you like this.”

“Why not?”

“Why would I?”

“Curiosity. You’re human. Humans are supposed to always be curious. Who wouldn’t jump at the chance of getting to know another person’s secrets like this?”

Riku shrugs. “I’d like it more if you told me your “secrets” out of your own free will, and not due to a status you can’t control. I’ll respect your privacy.”

“You really are unlike anyone I’ve ever met,” Joshua says, a tiny bit awed, and that’s enough to redden his ears.

“I’m sure your friends would respect you, too,” Riku smiles. “Come on. Let’s have ramen.”

* * *

It’s easy to entertain himself asking Joshua questions that aren’t overly personal. For once, he knows Joshua’s actual favorite color (it’s pink, despite everything he says about him changing favorite color every day), his favorite foods, and his favorite time of the day.

“Just one deep question,” Joshua says. “You should have at least one question you want to ask me.”

Riku ponders it for a while. He supposes it’s easy to start with one that happened today. “You were pretty worried today, when you came to check on me. Are you always that worried?”

“Yes,” he answers. They’re on Joshua’s lounge, sitting on the floor to watch a movie. Somehow, Riku can’t hear the movie anymore. “I’m always scared of losing you.”

Riku inhales. “Really?”

“Of course. You’re a human. Despite having powers and all, you can easily be killed,” Joshua continues. His voice is just a tad strained, which is weird and almost uncomfortable, and suddenly Riku wishes he hadn’t asked that. “I can live without you just fine. I don’t want to, though.”

“It’s okay,” Riku squeezes his hand, too touched and too much at a loss of words to be coherent. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Joshua smiles. “You better not.” Then, he adds, “Ask me if I love you.”

Riku can’t help the laugh. “Do you love me?”

“Yes, I do.”

He didn’t need a status effect to know that, but it still warms his heart that Joshua would go the extra mile like this. “Me too.”

“Aren’t you tired?” Joshua wonders. “You need some sleep. By the time you wake up, I’ll be fine.”

“Good night, brutally honest Joshua,” Riku laughs. 

“Wait,” he says. “Ask me one more thing.”

“Hm. What should I ask?”

“Ask me if I appreciate what you did for me today.”

“Do you appreciate what I did for you today?”

“Yes. You could have taken advantage of me and made me admit things I’m not ready to do yet,” Joshua gives him a small smile, “but you didn’t. It means a lot to me.”

“It’s what anyone would’ve done, I think.”

But it still means something to Joshua. Riku grabs his hand and gives it a light squeeze again, before lying back down on the  _ very  _ comfortable floor.

“You have too much faith in people,” Joshua leans back, laughing to himself. “Sleep well.”

* * *

The next morning, Riku wakes up with every muscle on his body being sore—mental note to himself: don’t sleep in weird positions on the floor. Joshua’s on the sofa above him, quirking up an eyebrow when he notices him stirring. “Oh. Good morning.”

“What time is it?”

“Like three in the afternoon,” Joshua laughs. “Quite the sleeping beauty, are you not?”

Riku sits up immediately. “What the—it was barely night time when I went to sleep! It was eight, barely!”

“Well, what can you do? You really needed the rest.”

“I skipped breakfast,” Riku laments.

“Stop being a crybaby.”

“Did  _ you  _ have breakfast?”

“Do I look like the type to do that?”

Riku’s about to scold him, but then— “Oh. You’re back to normal!”

“Indeed so. What a relief! I’m never putting myself in that situation again.” Joshua pauses for a second, studying Riku. “Or, well, if I were to be in it again, I would probably choose to stay with you again. Safety  _ absolutely  _ guaranteed.”

“Wow… are you still under the spell?”

“Jerk,” Joshua hits him with the pillow. “Can’t I just be nice to you?”

Riku laughs. He deserved that. “I’m glad you’re back.”

“Thank you. I’m going to be ten times more suspicious to make up for this.”

“Mhm,” standing up from the floor, Riku continues, “have you had anything to eat yet?”

“Maybe I have. Maybe I haven’t. Who’s to say, really?”

“Oh my god.”

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> me: everything i post to ao3 should be serious and good and live up to my standards
> 
> me when i write them in scenarios that only entertain me: brain go brrrrrrrrr!!!!!!! serotonin!!!!!


End file.
